when your body touched mine it’s like the romantic stories back in time like the story of Romeo and Juliet the love they felt wasn’t pretend when it hit dawn i didn’t know from my rights to wrongs what felt like minutes turned into hours my thoughts became louder and louder is this real am I playing in a deal would I be able to play the hearts or does the joker want to play with darts will he take the dagger for me or is this love that shall never be It felt too good to be true I was playing taboo and when I last saw you I would’ve never knew if our love was true because when I opened my eyes I was paralyzed thinking I won the prize But you were never mine I realized you were never real that joker played his deal the stories shall stay in the past for that love they shared didn’t last

I stepped onto the beach, and looked around. It seemed to be abandoned, the small secluded island stood in the sea, the waves of high tide slowly coming higher on the beach. The waves lapping at my heels. I take a breath and look up on the peak. The sanctuary looking like it’s starting to fall apart. I need to climb higher, most of this island will be submerged when high tide is in. And as my ride off the island won’t be here until the morning… I have little choice. I press on, climbing up into the mountains region, all the while keeping my eyes on that ancient looking building, almost looks like a temple. The water creeps up the beach, I look back, and sigh. There’s no going back to the beach, not tonight

“We’ve got one shot,” Ryder said quietly, putting a hand on each of my shoulders as he gazed intently into my eyes, “that tide goes out and we go with it. If we miss it…..”

I swallowed painfully when he didn’t finish. I knew what would happen if we didn’t make it. We’d be trapped here forever; the portal would close.

For what felt like the thousandth time, I wished with all my heart that I’d chosen a different career path. Being a writer wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Or maybe it was way more than it was cracked up to be…

I’d been researching a power plant for a news article I was working on, and one of the reactors exploded and some kind of portal opened; sucking me in with it. This island was coming apart at the seams, and the person that created the portal was standing right next to me.

“Why did you have to make a portal controlled by the ocean!?” I yelled irritably over the rising wind.

“You picked a nice time to ask me that,” he responded calmly, “how was I supposed to know it would even work?? Isn’t this awesome!?”

I just frowned at him, but I began to feel a small twinge of guilt at my attitude towards him. We were about to die and I was spending my last minutes being angry.

“I’m sorry,” I sighed, hugging my knees to my chest and staring at the ocean.

I could see him watching me out of the corner of his eye, and he reached forward and nudged my shoulder.

“Hey don’t worry about it,” he laughed, “when we get back to earth or whatever you can sue me.”

“We’re not going to make it,” I said numbly, shaking my head as a sudden wave of despair seized hold of me. “There’s no way we can time it just right. We’re gonna die here and no one will ever know. Why even try to-”

“Faith, listen to me,” he snapped, and we locked eyes, “I don’t care what the odds are, I don’t care what you think you know; but I made this portal. I say we can do it. It IS possible, and so help me if I have to drag you all the way I will. We are going to make it home. Break down and cry and wallow in self pity for the next five minutes if you want to, but after that it’s game on. I’ll let you sort this out and then I’m coming back to get you and you’re coming with me whether you like it or not.”

My bare feet pound against the forbidden island that my mother warned me to stay away from. I didn’t listen. It was so enticing. The dense forest of palm trees and green swayed in the distance of the mainland’s coast. The land bridge between me and mystery was so short. All I had to do was walk across. And I, being the idiot I am, did. Palms and bushes slap against my skin and face as I push past them. The edge of the woods comes up so quickly I don’t have time to stop myself before I hit the sand. My foot catches on the cool soft surface and I fall forward; tumbling down the steep beach-y shore. Sand clots my vision and coats my teeth in an unbearable grit. I sit on my knees, cough, and frantically wipe and scratch at my eyes and the stars in the night sky start to come back into view. I look across the rough black sea back to the mainland; maybe small by the distance to its banks. The land bridge that connected it to the forbidden island I now kneel on is nowhere to be seen. The high tide swallowed it up in its cold unforgiving grasp. “Dammit . . .” I breathe. I’ll have to wait till morning. I look back into the forest behind me. Luminescent flowers bloom off of low shrubs and curl up the trunks of palms. They open up slowly and hesitantly; waiting to make sure the sun is sleeping and the moon is full. Their glow brightens as the forest moves closer to me. It’s as if ever part of it is alive and breathing. I fall into my mind with only one subject present inside; the island. It’s consuming my thoughts leaving nothing but confusion, and yet a feeling of comfort and safety wraps itself around me. “I think I’ll stay here,” I mutter subconsciously as I walk deep into the thicket. I’ll never get out of here.

Elspeth watched from the clifftop as the waves rolled in, devouring the last strip of bridge that connected the island to the mainland. Her heart plummeted, and her skin prickled with fear as her last chance of escape disappeared with the tide.

Grey clouds rolled in, darkening the land around her, and gulls tumbled through the air, soaring low over the water. They taunted Elspeth with their freedom, reminding her that she was trapped.

Her knees buckled beneath her, and she fell to the ground. Elspeth looked out across the horizon, just making out the faint outline of land through the mist. Tears rolled down her face, and her body began to convulse with uncontrolled sobs.

The scream that tore from her throat was raw and full of despair.

She was the only one left. Everyone else - Toby, Zac, Georgia, Ruth - was gone. Dead.

Elspeth knew that, unless she was able to escape the island, by morning she would be dead too. It was only a matter of time before He found her.

It was hard to think that not only 3 hours before they had all been alive.

Images of her friends’ slain bodies flashed through her mind.

Toby had been the first; courageous and as rash as ever, he hadn’t hesitated to jump in front of the killer and attempt to fight him off, giving her and the others a chance to escape. He had been gutted like a fish with a single, well-placed swipe of a knife. Ruth quickly followed Toby, and then Georgia.

Zac had been the last to fall. Elspeth shuddered as she recalled the gurgling sounds of Zac choking on his own blood, throat slit from ear to ear. She had watched the light fade from his eyes, the ghost of his fear and shock lingering in his glassy stare. He had been dead before his body had even hit the ground…

And now she was here, on the edge of the island, with no way to escape. The hire car lay abandoned elsewhere, and only route back down to it would take her back the way she came… back to where her friends lay, back to Him.

Elspeth’s head shot up at the unmistakable sound of a stick breaking underfoot. There was something about it that sounded deliberate, as if He had wanted her to know that He had found her… that there was no chance of escape.

Dread pooled in her stomach, and bile cloyed up her throat. Rising from her knees on shaking legs, Elspeth turned towards the dense woodland.

From the brush He emerged, eyes wide and hungry with sadistic pleasure. His thin lips were pulled back into a sneer, his yellowed teeth bared.

Her gaze fell down to the serrated knife in his hand, which was slick with blood. She watched as a red bead slipped off the edge to the ground, blooming like a flower at the impact.

“Times up, my sweet.”

Elspeth ducked to her left as he came at her, knife swinging wildly. She hit the floor with a heavy thud, hands scraping along the rocky gravel. Another sob bubbled up her throat.

She made to push herself up, but was impeded by a hand wrapping itself around her ankle and dragging her backwards. Elspeth screamed, clawing at the ground, desperate to grab hold of something, only to pull up tufts of grass, weeds and dirt.

“No, please,” she begged, kicking out with her free leg. She made contact, and he released her ankle with a cry, the knife clattering to the ground as he massaged his injured wrist.

Elspeth scrambled to her feet, eyes darting left and right in the hopes of finding a means of escape. With the path back barred, there was only one option, one hope, one chance.

Down below the waves crashed against the rocks, while the gulls soared up above, their keen eyes watching the scene unfold.

Behind her Elspeth could hear the haggard breathing of her killer as he lurched towards her again. She ran towards the precipice, turning back as she twisted her body round and threw herself off the ledge.

In a moment as if time had frozen, their eyes met… before gravity played it’s part and pulled Elspeth into the tumultuous waters beneath.

Fifteen years as a beat cop in Minnesota had helped prepare Tony O’Malley for days like these. He pulled the collar of his old sheepskin coat further up around his ears and hunched his heavyset shoulders against the biting wind whistling across the sound before him. He sat back against the hood of the old Buick, muscle memory instinctively patting at his chest pockets for a packet of cigarettes long since gone. How he’d kill for a smoke right now, he sighed, musing that it was probably the least likely thing to kill him these days.

Out across the water before him, an early morning mist hung low over the slow moving tide. Ominous dark waters shifted like a thick, black living mass. O’Malleys eyes flicked and traced the ponderosas lining the other side for any signs of movements. Nothing stirred at this early hour, except for a scarce few birds. Glancing down at the watch on his left wrist, he felt a pang of something deep in his chest. The watch was an Omega. He knew little of watches but was aware he’d never have been able to afford something like this in his old life. Thick fingers traced over the glass. Five forty six am. By his reckoning, he had another forty five minutes before the tides slipped back enough to reveal the dark stone path, and access to the island for the next few hours. Though little scared him, he was once more aware of that anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach. An uneasiness that only came when the tides receded, and which only subsided as the causeway once again vanished under the shifting waters.

Reaching down to his side, O’Malley lifted the familiar weight of his trusty rifle from beside his foot, slipped the strap over his shoulder and adjusted his jacket collar, preparing for the long shift ahead. Like the Omega, he’d had the rifle some time. It had become a welcome part of his daily routine. Meticulously stripping and cleaning the parts thoroughly at the end of each shift had helped to keep his mind sharp. Though unlike the watch, the rifle hadn’t come from the corpse of a unknown man in Tacoma.

Pushing himself away from the car, O’Malley glanced over his shoulder at the girl asleep in the back seat. He’d give her another fifteen minutes. Foster. He liked her. She reminded him of an old partner. Resilient and tough. She could certainly hold her own against the others in the camp and stood for no shit whatsoever.

Then he heard the noise. That noise. It snapped him back to the present instantly. He lifted the rifle and tapped the butt against the cars side window. Foster stirred to life inside. The noise came again from across the water. A deep, guttural drone. Clicking and hissing. O’Malleys eyes darted back and forth, scanning across the water and into the undergrowth beyond. He began to sense their presence and knew today would be different.

“Everything is fine…Just a simple wreak…”

Vivian was hesitant to keep speaking about the incident. No survivors other than herself with the radio system out.

“If I’m able to survive at least a week I can make it out! Just need to remember how to do things. Scavenge and Search for high ground.”

The more she would move the more her body would say enough. The blistering hot sun. The lack of wind. If she didn’t take a break she would die from heat stroke. Suddenly a loud rumbling. Her stomach.

“Ohhh. Please just last a small bit longer!”

As she collapsed to the ground, the sand beneath her feet would soon be beneath her knees and hands, she would attempt to stand up but had to crawl. As she crawled she found the wonder food. Potatoes.

“…food…FOOD! Oh there really is a god!”

Two hours would pass as a storm would roll in. Gigantic puffy clouds of rain. A monsoon even. If she didn’t build a shelter now she would surely die.

Another hour from her seeing the clouds barreling towards her she had somewhat of a hit constructed of a sheet of metal and wood she could find.

“Please let me survive…I wanna go home…she’s probably worried sick. I have to build a survivable raft to get to civilization or something.”

As she took shelter with the rain hitting the metal sheet roof of her shelter she thrown together. The rain would uncover another piece of metal. As she walked closer she could see a handle.

“Hm…Interesting…”

With a small shocked look on her face she was able to open to open the door. But when she did. Tragedy struck.

A bolt from lightning hit the metal door she was holding. It should shock her but not harm her. It was as she crossed a sensor that an arrow would shoot into her left leg.

“Agh! F-fuck! Wh-why my leg!”

As the blood gushed down her leg she knew not to take it out as the bleeding would get worse and worse. She fell down the stairs and knocked herself out. For a brief moment she could see…a tall figure.

“Ehhhh…h-hello?”

But she would soon be passed out cold.

(To Be Continued)

“Ok, y'all ready?” I asked the group of nine longhaired, sunburned men in front of me.

They all had backpacks filled to the brim and their arms full of gear. I keep telling people to pack light, but they never listen.

“On my count, we run. You can’t stop, or even hesitate. One moment's pause and you won’t make it. If you’re a step too slow, you die. And no one will come back for you. It’s every man for himself. Got it?”

I hear a few mumble got it. Not much enthusiasm in this bunch. Can’t say that I blame them after what happened to last week’s group. Boy, that was gruesome. We lost more than half on that run. I’m surprised I made it myself. I can’t be sure, but I think the water rose faster than usual. I hope it was just my imagination. If it is progressively rising faster, we’ll never get everyone off this island.

I stare across the group, analyzing the faces of the men about to make the run. They’re all visibly scared and shaken. The shaking could just be low blood sugar from lack of food. We’re all on the brink of starvation. Just one more problem for the list.

I don’t feel bad for painting a gruesome picture, they need to know the risks. It’s up to me to set expectations. They’re here of their own volition. I'm not forcing them to make the run. If anyone’s being forced to do it, it’s me. Forced by my own conscience. How could I leave everyone stranded? I don’t think I could live with myself if I abandoned those remaining on the island.

I used to think being this fast and in this good of shape was a good thing. Now, I see it as a curse. I’m the fastest by far, so Tom chose me to lead people across to the mainland. What’re they gonna do if I trip or something during a run? Die I guess. I’m their only hope.

“Ok, on three! One, two, three!”

We leap onto the land bridge, full sprint. Joe, trips right off the bat. He does the right thing and returns to where we started. No way he would make it across after a faltered start. He’ll just have to try again next week.

I pulled ahead of the group immediately.

“Come on everyone, let’s go, get moving!!” I yell over my shoulder.

The water began rising immediately. It’s up to my ankles and we’re not even a third of the way across. It’s definitely rising faster than usual. Holy hell this is bad.

“Drop your gear if you have to!” No one drops anything. Why does nobody ever take my advice?

I’m half way across and the water is up to my knees. Surprisingly, a few of the men have kept up well. They’re really moving.

I think we’ll make it, but this will be another close one.

Two thirds across and the water keeps rising. It’s up to mid thigh. Waste high. We have to get across before it’s waste high.

Loyd falls.

“Get up! Get up! Keep running!” I scream. He’ll never make it now, but no reason not to keep trying.

I reach the other end. Climbing out of the water and onto shore, I turn and look back towards the water. Three others, Bart, Ken, and David all climb onto shore right after. The other five are only at the two thirds point. They’re not going to make it. The water is above their waste and still rising. It’s only a matter of time.

They’re screaming and crying, horrified at what happens next.

The first one goes quick. He’s pulled under in a split second. A pool of blood colors the surface of the water.

The other four begin trying to swim. Won’t work. I’ve seen people try to swim to the other side many times before. Always ends the same. One run there was a brute of a man, John, who fought for a moment. He resurfaced once. But he’s the only to ever do it and he was immediately pulled under again. Humans just aren’t made for the water.

The other four all go under in a flash. None resurface.

I look over to the other three. Their eyes were wide with disbelief. It’s one thing to hear about what happens on a run. It’s another to witness it first hand.

“Let’s go”, I say, gesturing with my hand. “Don’t think about it, just be happy you made it”.

I try and hide my worry. I have to put on a confident front for the others or they won’t listen to anything I say. They don’t know it, but I’m just as afraid as them. This job takes its toll on the soul and body. Ive seen so many die on the run. Every week I feel like something is creeping in on me, like something could happen at any minute. I can’t help this feeling of impending loss, like my time is limited.

Looking at the ground I ask myself, when will my last time be? How long until my luck runs out and I trip or sprain an ankle?

When’s my last run?

Mila stood tentatively in the crowd, staring toward the water along with everyone else. The moon’s light reflected across the deep blue, glinting silver laced in the churning waves. A low hum filled the air, anxious voices chatting among each other. We knew not to express our impatience, for that would anger the spirits.

The day before every solstice, our island’s folks would hold a ceremony to please the heaven’s gods so they can open the portal to the spirit world the next day. Dancing, sacrificing of harvest, toasts, and many other rituals are held. On the night before the solstice, the tide would recede and reveal a bridge to the other world. When the clock strikes midnight, the sky would rip open and reveal a world where the dead resides. You didn’t have to search for your long lost ones. They would find you. For they have been waiting as well for this day to reunite with their loved ones. Celebration would take place throughout the day. No one would sleep; they wouldn’t want to miss a single minute of this special day. And when it turns dark again, everyone stuffed with delicious pastries and tired from the long day, the spirits slowly drift back to the rip in the sky. Then the clock strikes midnight once again, and everything turns back to normal.

Mila peered up at the wooden clock tower on the bay. Half past eleven. She draws in a shaky breath and turns back toward the horizon. This was going to be the first time visiting her mother during a solstice. ‘I hope she’ll forgive me,’ she thought, gulping down the knot that had formed in her throat.

Purple ray was a chubby Polynesian who frequently visited our tourist bar, he loved wearing purple for some reason. He was a lot of fun, he would drink a little then store up on goods and then go back to his unique island. He would tell us stories of his time there, and how he gets lonely. But he still didn’t meet the girl that’s right for him, he tries every few months to come and meet the perfect mate for him.

There isn’t a lot of access to this island during high tides, he must always have some backup plan if things get bad. He told us why he loves to eat so heavy, it’s when he was stuck inland.

one time the tides came in and were stuck that way for a long time, his resources were running out. All the food, and the good water ran low. He couldn’t even get to his boat to leave, so he lost about 60 pounds. He was so skinny and weak, he had to find new ways to sustain himself. His island is unique because it had a lot of Komodo dragon looking lizards, but they are less aggressive and mostly stick to their own zones.

They won’t attack you unless you threaten them, but he was getting desperate so he had to find a way to catch one and eat it. He would throw rocks, try to hit it and climb a tree to run away. He laughs now as he’s telling us the story, but during that time he was on the verge of breakdown. So finally he got something to work, he had put these shiny colored plants in a trap area. Once they’d come they would fall into a pit and he would throw a boulder to bash them, he says when he caught a few it was the best thing he ate in his life.

After the tide went away, he was able to go back for supplies and things went back to normal. But this crazy weight loss had increased his appetite to such high levels. It took him no time to gain it all back. I like how he didn’t break and is having a fun approach to this situation, this sort of thing would have messed many other people up. Good on you purple ray